Photo credit: Bigstockphoto/Franck Boston
by Jennifer Withrow. DSW, MSW
Social work values guide professional responses at every level of practice. To social work students, that is a well-defined and explored concept at the micro level. However, students have less exposure to these concepts at the macro level. Particularly around the professional value of social justice, the overwhelming student interpretation is that the only way to engage in social justice at the macro level is to become involved in politics. The lack of exposure, awareness, and options puts macro placement sites (and students) at a disadvantage when students begin to explore practicum opportunities.
When students first arrive in a macro placement, many find it difficult to connect concepts ingrained through micro practice and academia and apply them to a macro approach. Students often struggle with understanding how the competencies relate to assigned activities and seek additional supports to ensure understanding of concepts that were previously determined to be mastered in direct practice. This often leads to a loss of confidence regarding skills and knowledge. To assist students with this transition, many of the activities I assign as a macro practicum supervisor are geared to push them outside of their comfort zone. Conversations focus on reminders that a macro client is not one person, but rather a cohort, agency, or community.
There are many ways social workers can engage in social justice through macro practice by meeting the mission, vision, values, and goals of the host organization. Macro practice allows the social worker to focus on addressing injustices through policies, practices, program development and oversight, and being aware of—or involved in—regulatory measures that impact populations, communities, or organizations. All the concepts and values are applied through assigned activities. Work focuses on critically thinking about the topic, recognizing unintended consequences, accessing and evaluating situations, intervening through proposing solutions, collaborating with community partners, professionalism, and ethical decision-making. Being involved in strategic planning allows for students to be exposed to establishing interventions often driven by client-led decisions, as well as transitioning the project once activities reach completion.
To achieve success in a macro placement, students should be engaged in tasks that relate to larger practice, such as attending a community event to learn about things happening in their community, writing a letter to an elected official about a concern, attending webinars and trainings to enhance exposure to all levels of practice, participating in grant writing, attending community or agency multi-disciplinary team meetings, working on a data analysis project to recognize trends to help guide decision-making, critically analyzing a bill proposal to determine unintended consequences, or leading a project from conceptual development to completion.
Students who are open to this process quickly learn my philosophy: One cannot be an effective direct practice social worker if one does not understand the administrative side, and vice versa. Practicums are the time to explore areas of practice that are less familiar. Take advantage of the opportunity. Accept assignments that expand exposure. One never knows where an assignment will professionally lead one in the future.
Jennifer Withrow, DSW, MSW, has more than 24 years of experience in state government, academia, and community involvement through sitting on boards, councils, and task forces, as well as focusing on student development both in academia and as a macro practicum site liaison. She works within program development and oversight, strategic planning, data analysis, policies and procedures development, contract management, monitoring and auditing, financial oversight, grant management, mentoring, leadership, and administration.